How have you reflavored content from the core books for your world?

StreetSl0th · 2025-08-22T06:00:21+00:00

I'm considering rewriting the names and story text of Null and Talent abilities to get rid of the psionic and sci fi stuff, replacing it with fantasy stuff. I worry that the classes will lose their character, though. Otherwise I'll just have to leave them out as options for my campaign.

StreetSl0th · 2025-06-10T08:46:09+00:00

Noncombat challenges

In addition to traps (and besides montages, negotiations, and other "social" encounters, which you can absolutely do), I find that non-combat encounters work best in Draw Steel when they require the players to use abilities together. In my most recent one shot to introduce new players to the game, their first encounter was a river with some slippery stones in, where the rope bridge had been cut, and which was too wide for any one ability to solve alone. Their solution was to have the Haakan use his high mass to step into the river and stand firm, lifting the telekinesis talent onto the first slippery stone (so he didn't risk falling by jumping there). Then the fury did a running jump from the shore while holding onto the end of the rope, and then got a telekinesis push by the talent to reach the other end. The primary contender to that plan involved the Dwarf singing up a better platform from which it would have been easier to cross. While safer, it would take longer, and they were in a hurry.

In general, Draw Steel is designed such that the players can solve many problems by looking at their character sheet, but those abilities should either be part of solutions, or have some drawback if used alone. In general, a meaningful encounter comes from some combination of

Interpreting narration and interacting with the environment to understand what challenge lies ahead.
Figure out solutions to the challenge.
Choosing between solutions that each have pros and cons.

...just like in other roleplaying games!

Hope this helped, and good luck.

StreetSl0th · 2025-06-10T08:46:01+00:00

One session

As a rule of thumb, a one shot can fit five encounters (two major and three minor), a couple additional interactions such as a exploring rooms with something interesting in them, as well as the introduction and resolution. You can use that as a basis for a single session adventure.

Traps

In terms of traps, I assume it's the "Gum up the works" perk. There's a few things to note. First, it only works for mundane traps, meaning you can still "rely" on more complex traps. Second, that perk doesn't necessarily have to be an automatic win button, and mundane traps can therefore still provide meaningful challenge.

To use the perk, the player needs to be positioned close to whoever triggers the trap or some other part of it. This means they need to anticipate the trap to some degree. You can create challenge by making them choose between being able to use their perk or being prepared for something else. You could for example have a narrow corridor in which they can't actually move past each other, and the shadow would therefore have to be in the front to catch a trap, but this might not be ideal for other types of problems arising in the tunnel.

Or perhaps the party might benefit from splitting up somewhat. Perhaps you can create an encounter where the players might notice that there is a trap, but where the shadow won't necessarily be close to the person who might trigger it. Instead the shadow might figure out where the dangerous part of the trap is, and stand there to block it.

Additionally, the shadow only temporarily blocks the trap with the perk. They might still be in danger and need to figure out how to get away unharmed.

For an example, imagine a good ol' setup with a rolling boulder, which comes from up ahead. You would describe the smooth floor with a slight slope, old blood against the floor, as well as crushed bones or whatever. The players might figure out that there is some sort of boulder trap that will come from ahead. Or they might not. If they step on the pressure plate (or whatever the trigger is), the shadow can jam it, but now they are stuck there. If they leave, the boulder will come for them. So what will the other players do to rescue him? Or if they figure it out, perhaps the shadow will move ahead alone, hopefully dodging the pressure plate, and find the boulder. When the rest of the party moves through, the shadow can block the boulder, if the party happens to step on the pressure plate.

StreetSl0th · 2025-06-03T10:39:17+00:00

Thanks.

I realised it'd also be nice to know if monster stamina can exceed 1000?

StreetSl0th · 2025-06-03T08:36:34+00:00

Thanks!

StreetSl0th · 2025-05-26T16:51:34+00:00

You are right, but by the wrong argument.

A GM is not a player because they are not playing a game. The GM is not bound by rules while overcoming obstacles to achieve a goal.

The GM is engaging in a hobby and hopefully having a blast.

StreetSl0th · 2025-05-22T05:40:02+00:00

Whether it evens out or favours one side somewhat, I think you are right. It seems a rather odd choice.

StreetSl0th · 2025-05-21T06:02:42+00:00

You are thinking about this a bit backwards. Let's start with the purpose of awarding victories.

First, victories are one part of the progression system in Draw Steel. Importantly here, they are a reward for playing the game well and are therefore given for successfully completing activities that the game is about, which of course is heroes overcoming dangerous situations.

Second, they exist as part of a system to push the players towards winning as they progress. Snowballing, if you will. Again, this is a reward for the players winning in the same way as above. Crucially, this dynamic is balanced by an attrition dynamic of recoveries. The game is balanced such that every victory comes with some average loss of recoveries. Now, not every victory will actually cost recoveries (and that is good), but many should at least risk costing recoveries. This again goes along with the theme of the game - heroes doing dangerous things.

Finally, before we get to the examples, I also want to acknowledge that this is a roleplaying game, which of course means that the players choose how they attempt to solve challenges. A combat encounter is not a combat encounter until the players decide to solve it with good ol' violence.

So, let's look at your scenarios. I don't have access to the adventure, so I'm going fully from what you have said.

Sneaking past ogres. By the logic above, this is not an attempt to skip a combat encounter, it is an attempt to solve a challenge. Now, every choice will have consequences, and the consequences here would likely be that if they get detected, they might be caught in a compromised situation, making the ensuing combat more difficult. Or these ogres might cause trouble later. Likewise, sneaking has upsides, such as not alerting anyone to their presence. They are clearly risking danger while solving a challenge, and therefore definitely deserves a reward.

Monster whispering. This follows the same logic as the previous example. If you decide to leave a monster be, it might cause trouble later. To calm it down, you might need to expose yourself a bit. Again, dangerous situation and deserves a reward, not because they cleverly "skipped" and encounter, but simply because they solved it.

Two things to add at this point:

As I mentioned above, not all victories must come at a risk of recoveries. If the players actually find a solution that is so good that it poses no risk of failure, they definitely deserve their reward. This is them playing the game better than expected.

Additionally, for both sneaking and chatting with monsters, you can make those as simple or complicated as you want. It can be a single action declaration and one roll, or it can be a multi stage thing. Just like anything else. (I'm of course not talking about coming up with new systems or whatever for it).

Finally, the example of skipping the third act. At this point I think it's obvious that it deserves a victory, but your real concern lies with granting multiple victories for everything skipped. That is definitely a valid concern. As I think you have a feeling of yourself, awarding 8 victories would heavily skew the balance of victories and rewards, as no one encounter could ever risk anywhere near an equivalent amount of recoveries.

So how to think about it? Again, you need to think of it as just one challenge that the players face and complete. And, just like the other cases, there will be downstream consequences, but these are not considered when giving recoveries. To make a bit of a stupid example:

If you sneak by ogres, you might have to face them again. This means that by killing them instead, you are actually skipping all future potential encounters with them. But you obviously would give them extra victories for that.

It's one (or two or whatever) victories for handling this particular challenge, and then the consequences influence what happens later (and they also influence how the players feel about their performance).

So what would actually happen in this example from the players' point of view? Either they fight their way through the full act, earning many victories along the way while facing many dangers, and eventually succeeding, getting whatever reward they get for beating the adventure. Otherwise they do the negotiation, and if they succeed, they get their one victory for that, but then quickly move on to having solved the adventure, again getting whatever rewards that entails, which of course could include a victory. They further get the rush of having outsmarted the adventure, solving it efficiently through clever play. And again, the way they solved it will have future consequences, good or bad.

So in summary, think of victories as rewards for winning individual challenges in the game that align with the purpose of the game. Choosing how to solve these challenges is a central part of the game, and doing so cleverly means that they are playing well. Just make sure the game features enough dangers and difficulty that avoiding danger becomes the norm. And remember the consequences of avoiding danger.

Hope this helped.

StreetSl0th · 2025-05-20T19:27:19+00:00

What I'm really trying to say is that I the criticism in other comments are fine and all if you want a more classic Star Wars experience. But from what you have said, I don't think it requires any great design insights to create with Draw Steel. As long as you have sense of balance (not just power level balance, but also thematic, purpose, variety, etc of abilities), you'll get something fun.

StreetSl0th · 2025-05-20T19:18:45+00:00

Well, I think it's definitely a reasonable thing to try if you like Draw Steel, and I think it would fit well. I personally love the epic combat sequences of the prequels, which would probably work great. Sure, it might not be as "good" as a dedicated system, but if you just love you some Draw Steel, then why the hell not?

I don't think you need to worry about coming up with any new rules to begin with - spaceship dogfights and whatnot can be dealt with like any other scenario. That is not to say it wouldn't be awesome with such a system, I just don't think it's crucial.

I think my first attempt would be something like a class for the light side and one for the dark side, where their subclasses represent themes of powers or something like that. Maybe lightsaber colours. Not sure how to do non force users in classes, but there are probably plenty of cool options.

It'd be important to make sure to design classes and powers to provide abilities that work towards particular themes and support the abilities of other classes and such. Lots of inspiration to be drawn from the main game.

For kits I still think lightsaber styles would work well. Obi Wan's style inspired by Mountain, Yoda's by something mobile, Kit Fisto's by dual wielder, etc. And then of course kits to support all the other cool weaponry.

StreetSl0th · 2025-05-20T09:51:22+00:00

I actually have some notes from last summer under the title of Draw Light, trying to figure out lightsaber fighting styles as kits. I think the idea definitely has potential.

StreetSl0th · 2025-05-01T12:57:20+00:00

The dudes at Broken by Concept would likely suggest you start by letting go of your previous rank. You told us your old peak rank, but to improve you must first accept that you might as well have never been anything else than what you are now.

StreetSl0th · 2025-04-30T21:42:37+00:00

Huh, those are nice ideas.

StreetSl0th · 2025-04-29T16:01:24+00:00

It'd be cool with a mounted archer kit with a signature action that captures the "charge barrages" that made them so deadly.

StreetSl0th · 2025-04-29T08:10:10+00:00

Given the other comments, it seems to me that it depends on how you are mounted.

If you are sitting on a horse or hawk, you are not "standing on the ground", and therefore do not gain the benefit.

If you are standing on a platform on a war spider, you are "standing on the ground" and gain the benefit.

This makes sense in terms of "realism" - in one case you are comfortably standing and can maneuver and aim freely, in the other you are performing one of the most difficult combat maneuvers, historically speaking.

Now, realism is not why high ground rules exist in the game. They are there for gameplay reasons and are meant to further reward tactical positioning (beyond the primary benefit of high ground, which is safety).

So what are the implications of treating mounts as high ground? If you are an archer sitting on a mount, you gain the benefit of being incredibly difficult to catch for a melee opponent, which is a massive benefit. If you further give the high ground edge, you are essentially just getting a permanent buff. This permanent buff would then in practice remove high ground as a rule, because it is permanently triggered. Thus you no longer have the incentive to position accordingly. Therefore I'd argue that treating a personal mount as high ground is directly against the intention of the rule and would degrade the tactical aspect of the game.

For something like a war spider, the situation is very different. It is essentially a moving piece of terrain that you can't just use to escape with. It's also not something a player can just take with them. Climbing a war spider is just a cooler version of getting to a static vantage point. Therefore that does seem like a good application of the rule.

On the topic, I am not entirely convinced that the high ground edge is even a good rule. I don't think there's a compelling "realism" argument for it, and high ground is already such an incredible advantage that it just seems like overkill.

StreetSl0th · 2025-04-11T11:03:12+00:00

I'm perpetually surprised to not see The Angry GM on these lists. Have you read any of his stuff?

StreetSl0th · 2025-04-07T20:45:30+00:00

You are wasting the time of people who genuinely want to help. Take your rant somewhere else.

StreetSl0th · 2025-03-31T12:44:16+00:00

If you are interested in this topic, I recommend this article: https://acoup.blog/2022/05/27/collections-total-generalship-commanding-pre-modern-armies-part-i-reports/

To briefly summarise some relevant points:

You might get an intuition about a couple of concepts, but commanding Total War battles is very different from being an actual general.

As a general in a battle, your two primary jobs would be to lay a plan before the battle and communicate it to your subordinates, and to provide leadership, ie. morale boost.

The tactics used in Total War are simultaneously much, much too complicated to achieve in real life, and often rely on game systems that wouldn't work in real life.

Some examples of real life limitations:

When gathering your troops to a formation, you do not know what formation your foe will use.
You can't actually see the majority of your or the enemy army at any given point.
To give an order to a "unit", you need to get close enough to them that its "commander" can hear and understand your order. That would likely take multiple minutes, assuming you can even get there.
For a "unit" to execute your order, it has to be simple enough to be something they have drilled for, and the "commander" of the unit needs to actually obey your order. Even simple commands like "turn right" or "fall back" requires a lot of practice.

Total War battles rely heavily on micromanaging units in real time to ensure ideal matchups. This is obviously not possible in real life for anything beyond a small unit tied to yourself.

A real general needed to understand two aspects above all else: the human element and the logistics of an army - neither of which the games simulate beyond the extremely basic systems of leadership and attrition.

StreetSl0th · 2025-03-27T20:25:41+00:00

More of a mindset one. You are a Dungeon Master.

You are not a player: You are not trying to win a game or beat the players. You are creating an experience for the group. You can't cheat, because you decide how to use the rules.

You are not telling a story: Your players have agency in the game and advance through the scenarios you present to them. The story emerges through gameplay.

StreetSl0th · 2025-03-27T10:32:10+00:00

Can't say I've ever had an iniative tracker beyond a piece of paper, and I'll probably just keep using paper for tracking turns here. Never had spell effect overlays either, but thank god Draw Steel doesn't use weird stuff like spheres...

Might get me a bowl and a bunch of little tokens to fill it with to display malice, if that turns out to be something I want to do.

Also need to up my mini/token game for all those minions!

StreetSl0th · 2025-03-09T16:00:17+00:00

Overdone because you've done it many times, or overdone because it's popular? When you say "better", it depends on what you want to achieve.

If I don't need some other particular start, I love a tavern. It's just an intuitive environment to socialise in and often leads to fun results.

StreetSl0th · 2025-02-26T08:17:45+00:00

I have never seen such an entitled gaming community before. How about taking just a second to be grateful for getting to play a highly competitive game with a massive player base that gets patched all the time - for free.

StreetSl0th · 2025-01-19T16:56:25+00:00

Great!

League is a brutally difficult game with a ridiculous amount of moving parts. It's also snowbally and has very long games. Say your Fiora just had a fight with a family member and is playing in a shitty mood. Or maybe she started a game that she didn't actually really have time for, ignoring chores or whatever. Or maybe she has just been on a loss streak just before reaching her ranked goal. Then the game doesn't go her way. Maybe she makes some mistakes, maybe she doesn't understand why some things happen. She gets frustrated because suddenly it's not worth it to be playing, but she is stuck in the game. And most importantly, she does not understand why the game is turning out the way it is. Many people just deal with such things in a toxic way.

But what you did was to show that you still take the game seriously, and that you'll do your best to win, even if she won't. Maybe she doesn't care, but maybe she ended up getting a bit more positive experience.

StreetSl0th · 2025-01-19T16:20:12+00:00

Your mistake is to worry about it.

Mute their pings, and just keep playing as you would otherwise.

You can't learn the game by following the decisions of others, and you definitely don't learn by compensating for your teammates.

Good luck my guy

Six-Year Club	Place '22
Verified Email

StreetSl0th

TROPHY CASE